Post 82 captures state tourney title with 2 wins

Shelby Post 82 players celebrate in the infield at Lexington's Holt-Moffit Field following the final out of game two in the championship round Sunday. Shelby beat the Gaston Braves' twice Wednesday to take the top prize at the state tournament. (Donnie Roberts / Lexington Dispatch)

By Alan Ford

Published: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 at 09:24 PM.

LEXINGTON – By all accounts, it was a routine fly ball to right field.

But everyone connected with the Shelby Post 82 baseball program held back their reaction until it settled into the glove of outfielder Jay Seagle.

When it was done, the Shelby legion squad charged to the center of the infield at Holt-Moffit Field for a victory pile celebrating a 7-2 win completing a comeback sweep Tuesday against the Gaston Braves to win the 2014 N.C. American Legion tournament crown.

That came on the heels of a 10-6 win in the opener earlier in the day versus their fellow Area IV opponent.

Despite all the turmoil in the state tournament, following High Point’s expulsion for an ineligible player – and that issue has been re-opened by the National American Legion office it was announced just before the final game – Shelby (44-2) did what was necessary between the lines.

“We did what we always talk about and that’s to go play the game, to go take care of business and we did,” said veteran Post 82 head coach Mike Grayson.

A key factor in Shelby’s two final-round wins came at the plate, where Post 82 banged out 27 hits.

“The first couple of days we played tight and weren’t aggressive like we have been all year,” said Grayson. “But today we put so many hits up on the board in 18 innings.”

Post 82 will now focus on the Southeast Regionals at Asheboro beginning Aug. 7, barring any change that would come from the High Point protest.

Game one

Brock Melton and Jackson Mims cranked out four hits apiece to spark a 17-hit Shelby attack in the first game Tuesday. Dustin Jones added three more with Nick Hastings and Bradley Evans supplying two apiece.

Tournament MVP Ethan Carpenter (13-0) worked six innings on the mound to get the win for Post 82, his second of the series to go with a save. Russ Branch turned in a three-inning stint in relief to finish it out for Shelby.

“I’m always telling everybody I want the ball,” said Carpenter. “I wanted to go on the mound and do what I could for my team.

“We’ve played a lot of doubleheaders this season and it felt like we were built to do this. We’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

Chase Hamilton sparked the Braves with a three-hit outing. Starter Zachary Hollar took the loss for Gaston.

Game two

Shelby sent Cody Fitch to the mound in the second game. He turned in five innings of shutout work despite allowing six hits. Fitch escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and then found his rhythm.

“They told me all I had was five innings (he pitched seven on Sunday night), and to go give it all I had,” he said. “I knew we had to come out early and get going, we’d been playing from behind all weekend. If we could get ahead like we did, we could keep the energy going.”

Just like the opener when Post 82 moved ahead 6-0 after two at-bats, Shelby barged ahead 7-0 by the fourth inning of the showdown contest. Mims, who reached base six times in the first contest, was able to reach base four more times in the nightcap. He finished the tournament with a sizzling 13-for-28 plate performance (.464).

“I’ve got a (batting) cage at the house and all I know is go out there and work at it,” said Mims. “I have to thank my Dad because he’s always out there feeding me baseballs (to hit). It was tough out there with everyone pulling against us but we managed to come together and put everything else behind us to push forward.”

After Fitch’s five-inning stretch, Shelby went to the bullpen for Caleb Burnham, who finished it out. The Burns High standout hadn’t pitched since June 3 due to some arm issues but had been throwing in the bullpen in recent weeks.

“It felt good to be back,” said Burnham. “I took about two months off from pitching. I wanted to see what I could do. The goal was to throw strikes and let my defense make the plays behind me.”

Evans had three hits, with Jones adding two. Mason Smith, Tyler Price and Christian Hilty had two hits each for the Braves (27-5). Starter Matt Grimmett worked into the fourth and took the loss in the second game.

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LEXINGTON – By all accounts, it was a routine fly ball to right field.

But everyone connected with the Shelby Post 82 baseball program held back their reaction until it settled into the glove of outfielder Jay Seagle.

When it was done, the Shelby legion squad charged to the center of the infield at Holt-Moffit Field for a victory pile celebrating a 7-2 win completing a comeback sweep Tuesday against the Gaston Braves to win the 2014 N.C. American Legion tournament crown.

That came on the heels of a 10-6 win in the opener earlier in the day versus their fellow Area IV opponent.

Despite all the turmoil in the state tournament, following High Point’s expulsion for an ineligible player – and that issue has been re-opened by the National American Legion office it was announced just before the final game – Shelby (44-2) did what was necessary between the lines.

“We did what we always talk about and that’s to go play the game, to go take care of business and we did,” said veteran Post 82 head coach Mike Grayson.

A key factor in Shelby’s two final-round wins came at the plate, where Post 82 banged out 27 hits.

“The first couple of days we played tight and weren’t aggressive like we have been all year,” said Grayson. “But today we put so many hits up on the board in 18 innings.”

Post 82 will now focus on the Southeast Regionals at Asheboro beginning Aug. 7, barring any change that would come from the High Point protest.

Game one

Brock Melton and Jackson Mims cranked out four hits apiece to spark a 17-hit Shelby attack in the first game Tuesday. Dustin Jones added three more with Nick Hastings and Bradley Evans supplying two apiece.

Tournament MVP Ethan Carpenter (13-0) worked six innings on the mound to get the win for Post 82, his second of the series to go with a save. Russ Branch turned in a three-inning stint in relief to finish it out for Shelby.

“I’m always telling everybody I want the ball,” said Carpenter. “I wanted to go on the mound and do what I could for my team.

“We’ve played a lot of doubleheaders this season and it felt like we were built to do this. We’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

Chase Hamilton sparked the Braves with a three-hit outing. Starter Zachary Hollar took the loss for Gaston.

Game two

Shelby sent Cody Fitch to the mound in the second game. He turned in five innings of shutout work despite allowing six hits. Fitch escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and then found his rhythm.

“They told me all I had was five innings (he pitched seven on Sunday night), and to go give it all I had,” he said. “I knew we had to come out early and get going, we’d been playing from behind all weekend. If we could get ahead like we did, we could keep the energy going.”

Just like the opener when Post 82 moved ahead 6-0 after two at-bats, Shelby barged ahead 7-0 by the fourth inning of the showdown contest. Mims, who reached base six times in the first contest, was able to reach base four more times in the nightcap. He finished the tournament with a sizzling 13-for-28 plate performance (.464).

“I’ve got a (batting) cage at the house and all I know is go out there and work at it,” said Mims. “I have to thank my Dad because he’s always out there feeding me baseballs (to hit). It was tough out there with everyone pulling against us but we managed to come together and put everything else behind us to push forward.”

After Fitch’s five-inning stretch, Shelby went to the bullpen for Caleb Burnham, who finished it out. The Burns High standout hadn’t pitched since June 3 due to some arm issues but had been throwing in the bullpen in recent weeks.

“It felt good to be back,” said Burnham. “I took about two months off from pitching. I wanted to see what I could do. The goal was to throw strikes and let my defense make the plays behind me.”

Evans had three hits, with Jones adding two. Mason Smith, Tyler Price and Christian Hilty had two hits each for the Braves (27-5). Starter Matt Grimmett worked into the fourth and took the loss in the second game.